Suicide Attack Kills 17, Mostly Police, in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Kurrent News — In one of the bloodiest days for Pakistani security forces, at least 17 people, including 13 police officials, were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy in the northwestern tribal area of Khyber, local news outlets reported.

Khyber is strategically located next to North-West Frontier Province and its capital, Peshawar, and serves as one of the main supply routes for the American forces inside Afghanistan. Convoys of trailers carrying supplies for NATO troops have repeatedly been attacked in Khyber by Taliban fighters.

According to initial reports, the suicide bomber was on foot and detonated his explosives as the police convoy passed through a market on one of the main roads of the area.

The powerful blast ripped through the convoy and also damaged several civilian vehicles. Local television networks broadcast images of the charred wreckage and damaged mud houses nearby. The wounded were taken to hospitals in Peshawar.

Pakistani news outlets reported that a rescue team sent from Peshawar to the scene, in the town of Tirah, was then ambushed as well. The army brigadier leading the rescue was killed in the attack, and a major and a lieutenant were wounded, the army confirmed.

The suicide attack came hours after a Pakistani Army Cobra gunship helicopter crashed in the Tirah Valley in Khyber. The pilot and gunner were killed, the army said.

A military spokesperson said that details were being gathered to ascertain the cause of the crash. The remote terraced valley of Tirah has long been known as a hide-out and escape route for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.